$33,637

649

STRETCH GOAL SEND US TO ATL - $30,000

THANK YOU! You our backers and supporters have made today happen. We have now created a stretch goal, in light of making our original one: Sending CursiveLogic to the Pen Show in Atlanta in April. The penblogger community has been instrumental in our success and we would love to be present for the uniting of the members of the PenAddict.com.

THE CURSIVE CRISIS

Cursive handwriting is becoming a lost art. With the near universal use of word processing and ever-increasing pressures on classroom time, many schools have removed cursive from the curriculum. Why, they ask, should students learn to write in cursive in the age of tablets and iPhones?

While electronic devices have added an element of convenience to the writing process, evidence is mounting that putting pen to paper has benefits that typing cannot replace. That's why I created CursiveLogic, an innovative method that teaches the entire lowercase alphabet in four simple lessons.

CursiveLogic makes teaching cursive so easy, there's no reason to cut it from the curriculum. By backing this campaign and helping me bring this innovation to the attention of the public, you can help save cursive from disappearing.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

A few years ago, I volunteered in a local literacy program as a reading tutor for Josh, a 23-year-old student with learning disabilities. One day, Josh told me he wanted to learn cursive so he could sign his name. My first thought was, “At his age, Josh doesn’t have time to learn penmanship the way grade school kids do—letter by letter, day by day, for months.” And I didn’t see that process boosting his ego either. It was such a simple wish. I was touched and determined to find a way to help.

I wanted to shorten the cursive-instruction time frame. At home, I wrote the lowercase cursive alphabet on a large sheet of paper and just looked at the letters for a long time. Suddenly, I saw a pattern I hadn’t noticed before. Each letter seemed to fit into one of four distinct categories, which I call oval, loop, swing, and mound. I wondered if seeing this pattern would help Josh. Maybe learning small variations on a few shapes would feel less overwhelming than the chore of practicing 26 individual letters.

When I explained the patterns to Josh, his response was intuitive and fast. He caught on to forming the entire lowercase alphabet in 45 minutes and became so enthusiastic about his success that learning his uppercase initials was easy. After just one session, Josh signed his name.

After teaching more students from many different background all with similar results, I realized I was onto something—a greatly simplified way to help students master cursive handwriting.
CursiveLogic’s process teaches the entire lowercase alphabet in four lessons, greatly shortening the time required to master cursive handwriting.

Learning cursive doesn’t have to be tedious. Instead, students can quickly feel the satisfaction of signing their names in beautiful, cursive letters.

CURSIVE MAKES SENSE WITH CURSIVELOGIC

CursiveLogic is different from other handwriting methods because, instead of relying on rote memorization, CursiveLogic relies on the inherent structure of the cursive alphabet. The CursiveLogic instruction method contains two key features:

Letters grouped by shape ― Four foundational shapes underlie the entire lowercase alphabet. Rather than teaching the letters alphabetically, CursiveLogic groups the lowercase alphabet into four groups based on the shape of the initial stroke of the letters and teaches all of the similarly-shaped letters in a single lesson. Letters are also taught in a specific order that reinforces the pattern. By teaching all of the similar letters together, CursiveLogic captures the natural synergy of the alphabet itself, allowing each letter in the series to reinforce the proper formation of all the others.

Letter strings ― CursiveLogic captures the flow of cursive by teaching all of the similarly shaped letters in a connected string rather than as individual letters. CursiveLogic’s letter strings teach students to connect letters from the first lesson, allowing students to internalize the flow of cursive handwriting even before they have learned all 26 letters.

CursiveLogic also uses visual and auditory cues to reinforce the shape patterns:

Theme colors — Each shape string has a color—orange ovals, lime loops, silver swings, and mauve mounds—that reinforces the formation of the basic common shape.

Verbal task analysis — Students learn a simple, rhythmical chant that describes the path of the writing instrument as the letter shapes are formed. The process of verbally describing a motor task while performing it aids the acquisition of new motor skills.

And CurisiveLogic is fun! Students young and old love tracing and writing our shape strings. CursiveLogic is the only handwriting curriculum that has an “element of fun” that comes from the alphabet itself. No cartoon characters, songs, or gimmicks needed!

WHERE YOU COME IN

We can think of three reasons why you would want to back CursiveLogic:

Teach Cursive - Perhaps you are a parent, grandparent, or teacher with a specific student or group of students in mind. Our workbook, alone or in conjunction with our live training workshop, will equip you to easily and intuitively teach cursive handwriting to your student.

Spread Cursive - If you value the importance of cursive handwriting but don't have a specific student to teach, you can sponsor a cursive club. At the TUTOR and SPONSOR levels, you may designate a school to receive the workbooks. We are also in touch with teachers who would like to provide these resourced to their students, and you can make that possible.

Preserve Cursive - Cursive has truly fallen on hard times. There are those who would remove it entirely from the elementary classroom. When you back our campaign, you are helping to preserve cursive handwriting as part or our culture and history. As a thank you, when you support CursiveLogic at the Patron or Benefactor level, we will provide you with space in our workbook to make your own tribute to cursive handwriting.

By backing our campaign, you are helping to spread the word that cursive doesn't have to be difficult to teach or learn. Please take the next step by letting your network know about our cause.

BUDGET

Our full-color, heavy duty workbook is expensive to print, but the price drops significantly as the volume increases. The purpose of this campaign is to allow us to print our initial inventory with enough money left over to continue the development of our product. Every person who supports this campaign at the Partner level or higher will gain access to a live, online training session. If the funds raised here are sufficient, we plan to create a professionally produced training video.

Risks and challenges

We have printed a prototype and a first run of books. Using the funds raised here to produce a professional quality instruction video and a IOS/Android app would involve certain delivery time risks. At first we considered listing these items as rewards, but in the interest of avoiding delay risk, we have limited rewards to the item we have already sourced. Our main challenge for this project is getting the word out so we make our goal.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

CAMPAIGNER - Receive Partner rewards plus an autographed collector's edition first page of the workbook with a personal message of thanks from CursiveLogic's creator. Your name will be placed in the ‘Cursive Campaigner’ section of cursivelogic.com.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

TUTOR - Receive 5 copies of the 1st Edition workbook, an invitation to attend online training, and you name in the ‘Cursive Tutor’ section of cursivelogic.com. You may SPONSOR A CURSIVE CLUB by designating a school to receive the books.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

SPONSOR - Receive 10 copies of the 1st Edition workbook, an invitation to attend online training, and your name in the ‘Cursive Educator’ section of cursivelogic.com. You may SPONSOR A CURSIVE CLUB by designating a school to receive the books.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

PATRON - Receive 1/8-page for your own tribute to the cursive tradition printed in the first 10,000 copies of the CursiveLogic workbook plus CAMPAIGNER rewards. You or your organization will be placed in the ‘Cursive Patron’ section of cursivelogic.com.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

BENEFACTOR - Receive 1/4-page for your own tribute to the cursive tradition printed in the first 10,000 copies of the CursiveLogic workbook plus CAMPAIGNER rewards. You or your organization will be placed in the ‘Cursive Benefactor’ section of cursivelogic.com.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,500 or more
About $2,500

FOUNDER - Receive a personal 2-day visit from Linda Shrewsbury to anywhere in the U.S. Linda will instruct your teachers on presenting CursiveLogic. Also receive BENEFACTOR rewards and your school will be placed in the ‘Pillar of Cursive’ section of cursivelogic.com.